Magnetic assays can be used to identify, locate or quantify biological materials by binding a magnetic particle to a biologic analyte and using a magnetic sensor to detect the magnetic particle and thereby quantify the biologic analyte. This can be an effective manner with which to detect biologic analyte since biological materials generally do not exhibit natural magnetism, therefore any magnetic signal sensed can be assumed to originate from the magnetic nanoparticle tag.
Amorphous metals can have many desirable properties for a variety of industrial applications. An “amorphous metal” is a metal which has a disordered atomic structure. Related materials include “magnetic nanocomposites” which consist of metal crystals grown in an amorphous metal matrix. The metal crystals typically having a size of 1 to 5 nm.
Amorphous metals and magnetic nanocomposites can be used in electronic devices. For example, amorphous metals can be used in high efficiency power transformers. Magnetic nanocomposites can be used in power transformers which operate at temperatures above 400° C. Amorphous metals can also be used in anti-theft tags, for example.